[WARNING: some images and content may
disturb and are not work safe.] Gone are the
days of sideshows displaying freaks of
nature, but the diseases that caused these
so-called “freaks” are still with us. Political
correctness has made it impolite to display
the sufferers of these illnesses, so we are left
with the Internet – the last resort of those
with a fascinating for the bizarre. This list
looks at some of the most unusual (and
sometimes horrifying) anomalies of medical
science.

10. Diprosopus

Diprospus (sometimes called Craniofacial
duplication) is a rare disorder in which the
face is duplicated on the head (as in the
picture above). This is not to be confused
with fetus in fetu (item 9) which is a joining
of two separate fetuses; diprosopus is caused
by a protein called (believe it or not) “sonic
hedgehog homolog”. The odd name is due to
a controversial tradition in molecular biology
to use unusual names for genes. The protein
determines the makeup of the face, and
when there is too much of it, you get a
second face in a mirror image. If you do not
have enough of the protein, you can end up
with underdeveloped facial features. Children
with this defect are normally stillborn, but a
young girl, Lali Singh, born in 2008 survived
for 2 full months before dying of a heart
attack.

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The man pictured below is Sanju Bhagat aged
36 from India. He is fully pregnant with his
own twin. Because Sanju lacked a placenta,
the fetus inside him attached directly to his
blood supply. Doctors delivered the twin
which was severely malformed and did not
survive. Fetus in fetu is an extremely rare
disorder in which a twin somehow becomes
connected (internally or partly externally) to
its twin while still in the womb. In some
cases the fetus in fetu will remain inside the
host twin unknown until it begins to cause
problems. In more common cases, the signs
are visible from the outset and are often
initially confused with cysts or cancers. In a
recent case a 7 year old boy was discovered
to be carrying his twin when his parents
noticed that something was moving in his
stomach. You can read more about that here: www.channel4.com/programmes/categories

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The Elephant Man (Joseph Merrick) is
probably the most famous case of Proteus
Syndrome. The disease causes excessive bone
growth, excessive skin growth, and
frequently comes with tumors. Only 200
cases have been confirmed worldwide since
the disease was officially discovered in 1979.
It is possible to have a minor form of this
disease which can go undiagnosed. The case
of the Elephant Man has been the sole
reason that this disease is so widely known.
Sufferers have normal brain function and
intelligence.

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Möbius Syndrome is a rare disorder in which
the facial muscles are paralyzed. In most
cases the eyes are also unable to move from
side to side. The disease prevents a sufferer
from having any facial expressions, which
can make them appear to be uninterested or
“dull” – sometimes leading to people thinking
they are rude. Sufferers have completely
normal mental development. The causes are
not fully understood and there is no
treatment aside from addressing the
symptoms (such as an inability to feed as a
baby).

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Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome
(progeria) will be familiar to people old
enough to remember the television program
That’s Incredible from the ’80s in which a
young sufferer of the disorder appeared. The
disease causes premature aging – so rapidly
that a young child can look like a very old
man (or, if I may be so callous as to point
out the obvious, an alien – as in the
photograph above). The disease is especially
interesting for scientists as it may lend clues
to the natural aging process in man. The
disease is caused by a genetic mutation, and
does not pass from parent to child. There is
no known cure, and most children with the
disease do not live beyond the age of
thirteen – usually dying of stroke or heart
attack (diseases usually associated with old
age).

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Cutaneous porphyria is a disorder that
causes blisters, excess hair, swelling, and
necrosis of the skin. It can cause red colored
teeth and fingernails, and after exposure to
sun, urine can turn purple, pink, brown, or
black. The disease is thought to be connected
to the many werewolf and vampire legends
of the past, where a sufferer (who would
have lived apart from society) might have
been confused for a monster. The disease is
part of the more general group of disorders
called porphyrias which cover a range of
mental and physical disorders due to the
overproduction of certain enzymes in the
body. The disease gets its name from the
Greek word “porphura” which means “purple
pigment”.

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First off, note the spelling – it is Elephant-
iasis not Elephant- itis as many people
wrongly think. Elephantiasis is a thickening
of the skin (as opposed to proteus syndrome
which is a thickening of the bones as well as
the skin). Unfortunately, this is a disease that
any one of us can get as it is caused by
parasitic worms passed on through mosquito
bites. It is, consequently, not uncommon in
tropical regions and Africa. A slightly
different form of the disease is caused
through contact with certain types of soil. In
some parts of Ethiopa, up to 6% of the
population suffers from the disorder. It is
one of the most common disabilities in the
world. Efforts to eradicate the disease are
well underway and it is hoped that it will be
successfully relegated to the annals of
history by 2020.

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Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP
for short) is a very rare disease that causes
parts of the body (muscles, tendons, and
ligaments) to turn to bone when they are
damaged. This can often cause damaged
joints to fuse together, preventing
movement. Unfortunately surgical removal of
the bone growths is ineffective as the body
“heals” itself by recreating the removed
bone. To make matters worse, the disease is
so rare that it is often misdiagnosed as
cancer, leading doctors to perform biopsies
which can spark off worse growth of these
bone-like lumps. The most famous case is
Harry Eastlack whose body was so ossified by
his death that he could only move his lips.
His skeleton is now on display at the Mütter
Museum. There is no cure.

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Lewandowsky-Lutz Dysplasia (also known as
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis) is an
extremely rare inheritable disorder in which
warts form on the skin. It normally affects
the hands and feet and while it can start in
middle ages, it normally begins between the
ages of one and twenty. There is no known
effective treatment for the disease though
surgery can be used to remove the warts.
Unfortunately, after surgery the warts begin
to return and it is estimated that a sufferer
would need at least two surgeries per year to
remove them each time they grow back. In
2007 a sufferer had surgery for the disease
and thirteen pounds (5.8 kilos) of warts were
removed. 95% of the warts were removed.

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Diphallia (also known as Penile Duplication)
is a condition in which a male is born with
two penises. It is a rare disorder with only
1,000 cases recorded. Sufferers are also at a
higher risk of spina bifida than men with one
penis. A person with diphallia can urinate
from one or both of his penises. In most
cases, both penises are side by side and the
same size, but occasionally one smaller penis
will sit atop another larger one. One in 5.5
million men in the United States have two
penises.